I Lay Thee Down To Sleep
by Beth Elia
Summary: A little something I whipped up for my lit class. Very short one-shot about Trowa's granddaughter and her pain at the news of his passing away.


Just a little story I put together for my English class. It wasn't until after I'd finished it that I realized I'd made Rhianna into Trowa's granddaughter and Raiga into Quatre's grandson. Hm… weird little twist of the mind, eh? Anyways, I didn't change anything after I came to that realization, so if things don't quite seem to fit into the Gundam Wing universe don't complain to me 'cause I'm not changing anything. Its meant to be a simple one-shot, though I had started on an extension… but I doubt I'll ever finish it… or find it… its probably buried in the masses of notebooks and papers from last school year. Hehe. Oh well. R/R!! Please!!

Disclaimer: Me? Own Gundam wing? As if!

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"I Lay Thee Down To Sleep"

By Amaya Nyte Rayne

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            The lulling sound of water hitting glass fills the otherwise soundless room. Rhianna sat staring out the window at the rain. Usually she felt a small wonder at the display of modern technology. The weather system was a relatively new one for the space colonies, and the _SkyDeep colony, Rhianna's home, was one of the first to receive the upgrade 4 years ago. Before that the only way colonists could experience the wonder of water falling from the sky was by visiting _Earth_._

            Earth… that was the subject that filled Rhianna's mind at the moment. She recalled her first visit to earth, when she was a child, before the accident. Her parents had taken her to visit her grandfather for the first time. At 4 years old, her grandfather had seemed a formidable character. Tall with a gymnast's build and a commanding presence, fitting for the former star of the systems most popular circus and a soldier during the Great War. The tall man with graying auburn hair and snapping emerald eyes had knelt before the frightened colony girl, his face a mask. Then he had pushed her equally auburn bangs from her equally emerald eyes and smiled. 

            Her grandfather was the man who had watched over her through her parent's death, supported her through school, and had always been her shoulder to cry on. Now she was informed he was dead, had died in his sleep the night before. A wetness stung her eyes and drenched her cheeks, but that was the only sign of emotion on her masked face. Over the years she had learned to deal with pain, her grandfather had set an example having lost many friends and family during the war. 

            Now, in her shadow cast sitting room, not even the water could calm her. It seemed to her to reflect her inner turmoil. An ironic smirk grasped her lips at such ridiculous a thought. As if something as lifeless as recycled water falling from metal sprinklers in the colony dome could feel emotions like pain, betrayal, and the utter loneliness of loss. No, not even the rain was her companion. 

            Rhianna peeled a pair of dark sunglasses from her drenched skin. It was long since she had last visited her grandfather's wooden cabin on Earth and she had forgotten how quickly the weather could turn in Oregon. Closing the door of the rented motor vehicle, she approached the house with hesitant steps. Any moment she expected her grandfather to open the door and smile at her with that way of his, envelop her in his aging arms and laugh at the supposed news of his death. But as she came closer to the door and not a mouse had stirred the reality began to sink in. With trembling fingers she unlocked the door and stepped inside her former sanctuary.

            As expected, only silence greeted her and the aura of an unlit and empty house, no longer a home. The story of her life: silence, darkness, and a home undone. The stinging in her eyes returned and no longer could she hold the wave of pain within her tiny form. No one being can hold such pain within for long, a breaking point comes, and when that comes the bearer of that pain can only hope for a loving shoulder.

            But there was no shoulder. Not this time. That shoulder was now cold as ice and would forever be as such. There was no one to comfort her, no one to hold her. The universe had deemed that she be alone.

            Palms to slivered oak, knees to pine, water to wood: the elements of the past were her only companion.

            The sky was coal in mourning. The elements truly were her only companion, at least, the only one she acknowledged. The priest did his part, with a lingering sadness in his eyes. He had been a dear friend of her grandfathers' in youth. They had fought in the Great War together many eons ago and was the only of his companions still exposed to air. If she were not so encompassed in her mind, she perhaps would have comforted the time worn man. Instead she focused inward, eyes staring at the oaken tomb as it was embraced by the great mother from which it came.

            Hours passed and not a muscle twitched. The breath of the Father caressed her cheek and played with her hair as the Mother's tears mixed with her own. Finally, as the son of Zeus faded into the sky with his great chariot, she blinked the tears from her eyes and approached the gravestone. Kneeling by the solid mist of smooth gray, she sighed.

            "Grandfather, I don't know where to begin. Neither of us were ever any good at expressing emotions." She paused to take a breath around the lump in her throat. "I love you, Grandfather. I miss you." The tears consumed her again.

            Just then the breeze became a wind that whipped her long curls in every direction, blowing her hat from her head and down the hill. Jumping up, Rhianna ran after it. The chase took her on a mad dash through the sea of stones and through an old black iron gate. On the other side of that gate she found something unexpected.

            Standing up from crouching by an old gravestone was a young man, his sandy blond curls veiled sad lapis lazuli eyes that met her emerald with understanding. Her black hat lay in his out held palm.

            "My name is Raiga. I do believe this is yours." He spoke, a slight drawling accent in his voice hinting at Roman origins.

            "Thank you." With a slight quiver in her voice she added, "My name is Rhianna."

            Raiga smiled softly at her and suddenly she knew that she wasn't alone, the elements weren't her only companion. Things would be alright as they always were when given time.


End file.
